The relevant facts are set forth in our prior opinion,
Perlman v. United States Dept. of Justice,
By contrast, in
National Archives and Records Admin. v. Favish,
— U.S. -,
[WJhere there is a privacy interest protected by Exemption 7(C) and the public interest being asserted is to show that responsible officials acted negligently or otherwise improperly in the performance of their duties, the requester must establish more than a bare suspicion in order to obtain disclosure. Rather, the requester must produce evidence that would warrant a belief by a reasonable person that the alleged Government impropriety might have occurred.
Favish,
The rule announced in
Favish
does not affect the conclusion we previously reached in this case. It goes without saying that the graphic photographs at issue in
Favish
are far different from the ROI sought by Perlman. Further, the ROI details improper conduct by INS officials in the operation of certain visa programs, whereas Favish speculated that the pictures would in some way suggest some investigative impropriety. Thus, Perlman’s request was not based on a mere suspicion of governmental impropriety; instead, he sought a report which substantiated his allegations. Finally, the information at issue in this case was not personal in nature, nor did it concern substantial privacy interests. We previously noted that while the ROI may contain some “minor personal background information about Virtue,” that information had been redacted.
Perlman,
For these reasons, after reconsideration in light of Favish, we find that the conclusion initially reached in Perlman was correct and need not be disturbed. We therefore AFFIRM.
